A two-year-old girl was strangled to death in her crib by an 8ft 6in albino Burmese python owned by her mother and her mother's live-in boyfriend. The child, Shaiunna Hare, died of asphyxiation after the snake, named Gypsy, escaped from an unsecured aquarium and wrapped itself around her head and body.
Fatal escape from unsecured tank
According to the Sumter County Sheriff's Office, on the day of the incident in July 2009, the girl's mother's boyfriend, Charles Jason Darnell, found the snake wrapped around Shaiunna's head and body after it had escaped the 200-gallon aquarium, which had only a quilt for a lid, while the couple slept. The medical examiner found snake bites on the toddler's head and arms, with one bite on her upper right arm, one on her upper left arm, and a third on her forehead.
The five-year-old python was severely underfed and underweight, weighing just 13 pounds when a healthy reptile of that size should have weighed around 150 pounds, according to a medical examiner who testified during the trial. The snake had not been fed for a month and was trying to eat the baby girl, the Orlando Sentinel reported.
Couple's account and prior escapes
Charles told detectives that the snake was in its tank when he went to bed, but an hour later he found it in the hallway and put it in a mesh laundry bag with a small hole, placing it back in the tank. He then covered the tank with a quilt held on by safety pins, believing this was enough to secure the exotic pet. The next morning, he found the snake coiled around Shaiunna's head with its fangs in her forehead.
Shaiunna's mother, Jaren Ashley Hare, told deputies that Gypsy had escaped from the tank and the laundry bag at least 10 times in the two months before her daughter's death, and that she had planned to make a locking lid for the tank. Charles called 911 and could be heard saying, "She got out of the cage and got into the baby's crib and strangled her to death. I'm going to kill the b****," before stabbing the snake with a knife and meat cleaver. Shaiunna died at the scene.
Background and trial
The aquarium was kept in the living room, where Charles's two children, aged 12 and seven, slept on a sofa bed; they were unharmed. In May 2009, Charles was arrested and charged with driving with a suspended license, criminal mischief, and possession of cocaine and pain pills. That same month, a complaint was made to the Florida Department of Children and Families alleging the couple were regular drug users and neglected the children in their care.
During the 2011 trial, snake breeder Eugene Bessette testified that the python was very underfed and malnourished, and that its aquarium was not fit for the reptile: "It's totally and impossibly incapable of housing a python. It has no way to secure the animal. It's impossible. You can put fish in there if it doesn't leak." Gypsy had been Jaren's pet since she was 14, while Charles took responsibility for its care. Jaren's defence attorney, Ismael Solis Jr, argued that "this snake was no different than a family dog. The snake is like a little puppy to her."
Convictions and aftermath
Jaren and Charles were both found guilty of third degree murder, manslaughter and child neglect. After sentencing, Shaiunna's biological father, Joseph Gilkerson, said: "Justice was served. I'm happy it was served." Both received and served a 12-year prison sentence, with state records showing Charles was released in January 2021 and Jaren nine months later. The couple reportedly planned to marry upon release, while remaining on parole until 2026.
Joseph Gilkerson also lodged a wrongful death lawsuit against the Florida Department of Children and Families, alleging the agency failed to safeguard his child after an investigator had seen the python in the house; the lawsuit was settled with a confidential agreement. Jaren and Charles became the first people in Florida's history to be convicted on criminal charges for a snake killing, and the Florida legislature later amended state rules to broadly prohibit possession of Burmese pythons and other large snakes.
